Restless Dead

 

Ghostlore Vol. 1 by Cullen Bunn, Various Artists

My Rating: Three out of Five Stars

My Review on Goodreads

Ghostlore is a dark story of a family that is separated by a rift between differing ideologies. The oldest child is Harmony, a teenager who rejects the faith that her father preaches in a dying congregation. But when a car accident leads to the loss of the rest of the family, they are the only ones left, both with the ability to see and talk to the dead, and vulnerable to evil undead forces.

This story is more vibes than actual plotting. The characters of Harmony and Lucas are well-developed and their actions make sense through the visual narrative. The artwork is vivid and nightmarish, but doesn’t clarify the story. I felt like things ended with my level of confusion very high. I didn’t like the feelings I had when I read this story. I enjoy horror and the feeling of being unsettled, but this was more of a yucky and unpleasant feeling. Along with the lack of resolution, even knowing this is an ongoing story, I don’t feel inspired to continue this series. I have questions, but I don’t want to hang in long enough to get answers.

 

Great Classic Haunting: Six Unabridged Stories

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars.

My Review on Goodreads

I decided to listen to this in October because I love classic ghost stories, and I wanted to re(read) The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Tales before I watch the Netflix show, and that story is included. This is free with the Audible membership, FYI. All but two are rereads for me, although I didn't realize it until I listened to a couple of the stories. I'll list my thoughts on each story:

"A Watcher by the Dead" by Ambrose Bierce

Another reread that I am ambivalent about. I do like some of Bierce's work. However, this is more about dark human nature and that fundamental evil. Not so much about supernatural evil, but couched in a story about a "haunting." 3 stars.

"The Body-Snatchers" by Robert Louis Stevenson

I think this is my third time reading this story. I am impressed at how easy RL Stevenson's prose is to digest for a modern reader. I think he's kind of an underrated author. This story seethes with dread and unease. It's as much about guilt as it is a supernatural tale. Sadly, some people are incapable of guilt and empathy, whereas others are often irrevocably damaged by their abundance of both. Although bodysnatching isn't really a concept nowadays, the atrocities that are still being committed on humans by other humans (and how we blithely go on with our lives despite this) is always going to be timely. 4 stars

"Adventure of the German Student" by Washington Irving

I really enjoy this story. This was probably my third time reading it as well. It's short but very effective. The descriptions are great, and Irving builds atmosphere beautifully. I feel like you know where this is going, but you still enjoy the journey. It reminds me of the story with the lady who wears a ribbon around her neck, for gruesome reasons. If you know, you know. I feel like the moody, sensitive hero always on the edge of a mental breakdown was its own genre in classic horror. 4 stars

"Dickon the Devil" by J. Sheridan Le Fanu

I thought this one was just okay. It didn't do much for me, honestly. I can't recall if I've read thsi before or not. Maybe it just didn't make that much of an impression on me, this time or the other time I read it. 2.5 stars

"The Fall of the House of Usher" by Edgar Allan Poe

I am definitely a big fan of EA Poe, but maybe I wasn't in the mood for this one at this particular time. It seemed really melodramatic and over-the-top. Yes, I know EA Poe predated Lovecraft and I much prefer Poe, but I was getting Lovecraft vibes when I was listening to this. I have to say, I love what T. Kingfisher did with this story in What Moves the Dead, and not that's my preferred version. This was has some good tension and it's certainly suspenseful and creepy, but too overdramatic for me (in my present mood anyway). 3 stars

"The Open Window" by Saki

This was so fun. Instead of being a serious story, this is humor. It's very short and quite cheeky. I do love the buildup and the conclusion was the perfect way to end this collection of stories. 3.5 stars


The narrator was Geraint Wyn Davies, who played Nick Night on the "Forever Knight" show. He has a great voice and a facility for accents. Overall this was a pretty good listen.

Overall rating: 3.5/5.0 stars

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The Agony House by Cherie Priest

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars.

My Review on Goodreads

Coming home to New Orleans has not been the grand welcome that Denise, her mother Sally and stepfather Mike would hope for. They have purchased a broken down house with the goal of refurbishing it and turning it into a bed and breakfast with the meager funds they are getting through a small business loan. Denise is less than happy to be leaving her friends behind, starting at a new school, and living in a funky, dirty, falling down house. Add on to the fact that it's haunted by two presences: a small woman and a big man. While the woman seems benevolent, the man is far from it. She finds a comic book in the attic from an artist and author who was quite popular in the 1950s, one that may unlock the mysteries of the house, which seems to fall apart quicker than they can fix it.

This was such an entertaining read. I listened to the audiobook, and I loved how there was actually a dramatic reenactment of the comic book with different actors. That was my favorite part of the book. I enjoyed the twist of the ongoing series in which its lead is the intrepid young woman who constantly has to save her boyfriend, who constantly is the one in danger. A nice turnaround from the typical scenario. Careful attention to this plot device will reveal much of the underlying themes and mystery in the book.

Along with the ghost story and mystery of the house, there's a good story about a young teen finding her feet in a new place and making friends. There is also some great commentary about Hurricane Katrina and the upheaval that the city has not fully recovered from. Additionally, the story explores themes of gentrification and racial profiling, but in a very organic manner. I do think some of that was simplified, but that's understandable as this is appealing to a younger audience.

I loved the characters, from Denise to her parents (both kind and caring with good sense of humor), to the friends she makes, her nosy neighbor Terry (an aspiring ghost hunter), Norman (a hunky young man who had about eight thousand jobs and is a potential love interest, and Dominique (who starts out as an abrasive potential enemy but becomes a friend in the end). I thought the ghostly presences were well down, and how things seem to escalate as the story unfolds.

Despite this being a ghost story with some dark themes, there's a lot of light here as the focus on family, connection and community prevails over the very present evil that the characters face. It wasn't exactly scary, but it was nicely spooky and a very good read for October spooky season.

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The Monsters We Defy by Leslye Penelope

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars.

My Review on Goodreads

This is an engaging, engrossing read. I listened to the audiobook, and I loved the narrator. I love paranormal/supernatural stories, and it is so awesome to read books about African American culture and stories. Set in 1919, Penelope sets the scene very well with real black history as the background. She doesn't shy away from discussing the travails of black people in that time period. The dangers faced by black people due to racism, racial violence, white supremacy and Jim Crow segregation. Neither does she downplay issues in the community such as colorism and elitism, and the extremes of the haves versus the have nots (often justified by Social Darwinism). Stuff that I know about due to my heritage is a part of this story. But I also learned something new. The lead character is based on a real life woman who was put on trial for shooting and killing a rioting white policeman who broke into her house and shot her and her father. In this case, Penelope gives it a paranormal element. However, it's a hair-raising story that is familiar even to this day as parallels to black people killed by the police in their own homes, such as Breonna Taylor and Atatiana Jackson, among others, and how justice is often elusive in those cases. Fortunately, Clara (and her true life counterpart)'s charges were dropped. With this history, it's not surprising that Clara is hardened to the world and others, and you find out as the story unfolds why she comes off as so misanthropic. It's more from a shell of self-protection as opposed to genuine antipathy towards others. She also has the burden of seeing ghosts her whole life, and is often petitioned by others in the community in need to contact the spirits, called Enigmas. Clara knows they will come to regret any bargains they make with the Enigmas.

The characterization in this story was flawless. I appreciate how each pivotal character gets a POV and a bio of their life. Why they have unique abilities and the trauma they have faced in their lives.
I like how they come together in a way that compliments each other as they face a terrible threat to everyone. Each character found their way into my heart and I wanted them to have a happy ending. I feel like Zelda is such a mysterious character, and I want to know more about her.

As much as I enjoyed this book, I feel like some of the plotting got a little muddled towards the end. There was a lot going on in the climactic scene and I had to rewind the audiobook at some points because I was confused about what was happening. That being said, the storyline has a distinct feel, and some moments were genuinely spooky. I wasn't mad about the fact that I ended up finishing this book in October, even though I can't count it towards my October Scare Fest challenge. Lots of haunting imagery, and something about Southern folklore of haints, root magic, and bargains made at crossroads (figuratively and literally) always appeals to me. As I wrote earlier, the mix of authentic history and allusions to legends and folk wisdom the author used added so much to the texture of this story. Penelope even includes well known figures from Black history such as Carter G. Woodson and Langston Hughes (his cameo is quite amusing). Even WEB Dubois indirectly. Despite the nods to history and folklore, the story that Penelope added feels very unique, successfully building the author's own particular world in which people are gifted but those gifts are often due to powers given by spirits who demand much in return. There are some romantic subplots that I loved. It reminded me that I am still a romance lover (even though I haven't read much romance lately because I've been burned out and I'm not in the best mental space for it right now).

I definitely recommend this book to readers who love historical fantasy/paranormal rooted in American folklore and legends, especially those looking for stories featuring the Black experience in the early 20th century. I hope to read more books by this author, and I honestly would love it if this was an ongoing series.

Sammy Specter: Private Investigator, Public Terror

My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars.

My review on Goodreads

This was a cute, quick read. Sammy Spector is a newly departed detective who has a mission to scare someone to regain his lost reputation when his colleague gets the credit for cases he solved. He settles on a young girl named Shayla who is fixated on *cough* glued to her iPad. It's not as easy as he thought it would be. In the process of trying to scare Shayla, he develops a bond with this young girl whose fixation on electronics is highly detrimental to her.

I liked the story and how Sammy would plot and plan to scare Shayla, but she'd continually outwit him.

The illustrations were lovely, mainly black and white with occasional pops of color. They definitely helped me enjoy this book even more.

This is super short, and it was nice to have something I could finish in a couple of short reads.

Advanced Review Copy provided for review by Netgalley courtesy of Jolly Fish Press.

Ghost Talking at Midnight

 

 

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars.

My Review on Goodreads

I love a good dark urban fantasy with ghosty goodness and a health dose of "what am I reading." This fits the bill. There's also a great, and unique lead narrative voice. This had a post-apocalyptic feel, after some event that caused civilization as we know it to decline. Ghosts roam around freely, and Ropa has the ability to communicate with them. For a price, she will help them achieve what they are lingering around for. A desperate, recently dead ghost asks for Ropa to help her child, but has no way to pay. Ropa is supporting her grandmother and sister, so she doesn't work for free. However, she is convinced to help the spirit, finding a sinister far-reaching conspiracy of missing children.

This is a very unique feeling young adult story with a variety of textures. Huchu's writing is very sensorial, immersing the reader in the world he had created, mostly bad with a little bit of good. There are some genuinely scary moments, along with lots of intense, thrilling sequences. While I had some ideas about where things were leading, I didn't predict the way this story was going to play out at all.

I would recommend the audiobook for this one, because it really adds to the experience. Dark, atmospheric, complex, and suprisingly humorous in parts, I enjoyed this book quite a bit.

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Remember Me

 

Scritch Scratch by Lindsay Currie

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

My Review on Goodreads

I jumped at the chance to read this book because I love ghost stories, I love Middle Grade novels, and I am from Chicagoland originally. All that in one book was irresistible. Which is why initially I was kind of disappointed. I wasn't liking Claire that much at all initially. She seemed sulky and immature (and I chastised myself for thinking that. She is a 12 year old girl, after all). She resented her father deeply for starting a ghost bus tour company because it was embarrassing her and people were teasing her at school. It came off as kind of disrespectufl. When he asks (basically demands) her to help him with a tour one night, her life changes in terrifying ways. Claire is a stone cold empiricist and an avowed scientist. She doesn't believe in ghosts. However the ghost that follows her home demands for her to see and listen to him. He's a little boy and he's latched onto Claire as the human to resolve his unfinished business.

Although it had a rocky start, I ended up giving it four stars. That's because the way that character conflicts are set up and resolved was very organic and the reader is allowed to understand Claire and interpret why she is acting the way she does. I gained insight into what drove her. As it turns out, Claire was driven by fears and insecurity, and who among us doesn't have those same negative traits? Her relationship with her best friend Cassley (not sure how to spell it) is a huge part of her life, and some resolutions on this score is very satisfying.

I also enjoyed when Claire works along with help to figure out who the boy is. I love watching ghost shows and reading ghost stories. Growing up in the Chicago suburbs, I am not unfamiliar with the sights and sounds of the city, and have supernatural experiences in the building I grew up in. As the story goes along, she really evolves and her character is revealed.

Claire's mother is big on "teachable moments." This book has some good lessons for young readers as Claire and her friends navigate through difficult circumstances and face mortality head on (through interactions with the ghost of a young boy who died young).

I'm glad things turned around for me with this book. The ghost story was chilling in parts, but also very poignant. And there is an authenticity in the character interactions that I appreciated. Some parts might be a little scary for a younger reader, but I think a kid over eleven should be okay with this book.

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The Tree of Life and Death

 

The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier 

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

My Review on Goodreads

 I picked this one up as an audiobook from my library because I love middle grade books and I am quite drawn to horror books in this age genre. I feel like authors can be so creative about crafting a scary tale for readers of this age. I went into it knowing nothing, just wanting a creepy tale, and definitely got that.

The author nails the gothic atmosphere. It felt very grounded in the 19th century. The narrative isn't preachy, but it's clear that the author did research and understood his characters and the world they lived in. For me, that makes for great storytelling because their motives, choices and struggles are intrinsic to the story. Instead of being pulled out of the narrative by an interlude where you feel like the author is giving you tidbits on historical events, the history notes are fully part of the story. Now I love history, and I enjoyed reading a good fictional tale and learning more about the period it's set in. But I also think it's important to keep things organic, and that was done really well.

The story is about two orphans, Molly and Kip, who are Irish and have had terrible experiences. They are homeless and things are desperate for them. Molly is at the age where she might have to do some questionable things to provide for her younger brother. And Kip has a leg that is disabled, which limits what he can do to bring in money to help them. Sadly at this time, there are no lawes preventing children working and they have no other options. They end up traveling to a small town in the English countryside and seeking employment at a house that the locals avoid. But they are so desperate for a safe place of shelter, they are willing to take the chance. Molly is a born storyteller, a craft that she has used to insulate Kip about some tragic truths about why they are separated from their parents. Molly also uses her stories to keep her own hope alive. When she convinces Mrs. Windsor to hire her, Molly's gift of persuasion comes in handy, as the lady is reluctant to hire children as servants.

The story is from the viewpoint of both Molly and Kip as they encounter life with the Windsors in a house that feels deeply off. While Molly is highly resourceful and insightful, Kip also has a gift for seeing the essence of a situation and has a very strong compass that guides his actions. He has such a strong sense of determination and is both kind and practical. Their Irish heritage is looked down upon by many (a time when Anti-Irish bigotry was rampant), however, it is a strength for them as they draw from their upbringing (and the lessons their parents instilled in them) to navigate their difficult circumstances.

As I mentioned earlier, Auxier builds wonderful atmosphere as the story progresses and more become clear about the house and the dominating force of the large tree that is actually growing through the house. Each one of the Windsors has fallen under its spell as the tree has both enthralled and entrapped them. Molly and Kip are not immune, and that ratchets up the sense of threat for readers. It's very much a case of being careful what you wish for (that's all I'll say).

I appreciate how the true malevolent force was revealed and even that was entwined with the ongoing theme of storytelling. As a lover of books and stories, that resonated with me.

This story has some genuinely scary moments. It was also very thrilling. I got very involved in the plot as I listened. I cared about the characters and I wanted them to be safe. I like that Molly, Kip and the Windsors, the father Bertram, mother Constance, and kids Penny and Alastair, are all flawed humans, with good and bad points. While some of the characters may seem unsympathetic at some points, their inner vulnerabilities are revealed and it's clear that they have hurts and anguish, hopes and dreams that drive their choices. The theme of family and what you would do to protect yours, but also how much family matters to you is a huge part of the narrative.

I was glad I finished this one in October although I started it at the end of September, because it really fits the spooky mood of the month. Yesterday I was driving to and from work, and it was a blustery, rainy day, and it was just the perfect atmosphere. I think this book would be perfect to read on such a cold, rainy day curled up with a hot drink, wearing wool socks and a fleece blanket. Even better if you have a cat or dog hanging out with you.

The narrator was really good. Her accents were gorgeous. I loved her Irish accents for Molly and Kip. It was very involving and thrilling to listen to this story.

This was a solid four star read. I think I would have rated it higher if it hadn't take a while for things to get going. Initially I wasn't sure what I was reading and where the plot would go. It's not necessarily a bad thing if you want a story that slowly builds up. I think I wanted things to get spooky a little more soon. It appeals to me as a lover of classic and gothic horror stories, and I think the concept was very interesting, and it felt unique to me.

I do recommend this book to middle grade readers who like the spooky and creepy, and older folks like me who enjoy this theme and reading books for this age range.

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